This book presents the history of arms negotiation during the Cold War through the career of Paul Nitze, chief arms negotiator for the United States in the 1980s. The author, a journalist, integrates personal accounts with the negotiating strategies behind the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I and II), the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), and the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) between the United States and the Soviet Union. The biographical focus on a richly talented and highly experienced individual provides interest, anchoring the author's explanations of the political and technical complexities underlying the negotiations.